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Alex Smith had a vision of his former self with his less than stellar performance in Detroit, and that’s why the seven-year veteran threw often during the bye week. Even though the 49ers beat the Lions with a 6-yard pass from Alex Smith to Delanie Walker in the final two minutes, Smith wasn’t pleased with his performance. He told general manager Trent Baalke after the game he could have played much better.

Alex Smith did not take the bye week off.

Smith completed 17-of-32 passes for only 125 yards, a touchdown and an interception. His passer rating for the game plunged to 60 after being over 100 for the previous two games. Many of his incompletions came on high passes.

“Yes, Alex participated in our opportunity practice last Tuesday,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He threw again on Thursday. Don’t know if he threw yesterday. I believe he’s going to throw some balls around today. … He’s working at it. Keep staying sharp. I didn’t think he wanted to go any longer than two, three days without throwing the ball. That’s what he told me.”

Here are some other highlights from Jim Harbaugh’s Monday afternoon conference call:

-He called the Browns defense, “salty.” He also said their secondary is aggressive. “A lot of good, aggressive movement with the corners. They’ll take chances. They’ll break on the ball. They’ll press you. They play very well on the back end.”

-Harbaugh and several of his coaches from last year’s Stanford staff, including Tim Drevno, Greg Roman, Brad Seely and Geep Chryst went to the Cardinal’s dismantling of Washington on Saturday. “We all saw the same thing. Stanford is really good, they are just that much better than everyone that they’re playing,” the former Stanford coach said. “Proud of those guys. They’re doing a great job. They’re making it look easy.”

-When answering a question about defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Harbaugh hailed the unselfish contributions of Ray McDonald, Justin Smith and Isaac Sopoaga. Harbaugh said McDonald and Smith consume blockers in the nickel defense, which has freed up rookie pass rusher Aldon Smith. He also said Sopoaga has done a good job of getting fullbacks off of linebackers NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis.

-Harbaugh also appreciates the work of the practice squad. All of them travel with the team to road games which is
unusual. Most teams keep their practice players at home because they are not allowed to dress for games. Harbaugh said practice-squad participants dictate how hard the starters go in practice. Many of them have dual roles. Cornerback Corey Nelms for example will play cornerback and receiver for the scout team. Former Stanford guard Derek Hall plays guard and nose tackle.

-”Disney on Ice” was big for the 49ers during the bye week. Not only did Sopoaga take his young daughters, but Harbaugh also took his daughter. “I think he was there Friday or Saturday, I was there Sunday,” Harbaugh said. “We were both fired up about it. We were both into it. That was good watching.”